Just what can companies learn from “churn?” The term is often used to describe the customer revolving door in subscriber-based service models like cable TV and mobile phones. It could however, just as easily relate to a construction business that gets regular work from the same clients, time and time again.

A firm that has worked for a particular owner on a succession of projects, or one that has a stream of new work from the same  firms, would be wise to at least think a little bit about churn. That’s because, at its very root, churn is really all about knowing your customers and knowing when they are happy with your product or service, and when they are not.

Here’s a case in point. A large cable company decided to attack its churn rate using a customer-centric approach. The company first began a customer survey program that targeted customers a short while after their service was up and running. That way, they could gauge the customer’s satisfaction with the sales process and the installation, as well as their satisfaction with the product. What they discovered was that early and midterm customer satisfaction had the greatest effect on churn. But they also discovered that even though customers were more likely to switch providers in the 12 to 14 month range, they were actually making that decision around the ninth month into the contract.

The company put together a five question survey and started surveying customers at seven months into their subscriptions. The results showed the company where to focus its efforts in trying to keep customers who were most likely to switch providers.

Firms that have more than a “subscriber” level relationship with their clients have unique opportunities to discover clients that might be ready to churn. But many miss the boat. So while phone, mail or internet surveys may not fit, that doesn’t mean that some form of personal survey shouldn’t be used. Just because you played golf with a client yesterday, and they didn’t say anything about your company’s performance, doesn’t mean they don’t have an opinion about that.

For all companies, getting some insight into the list of clients who might “switch,” could just be a matter of regularly asking all clients how satisfied they are with your performance. If areas of dissatisfaction surface, then you can address those areas before the client makes the decision to find another provider or vendor.